Soli Deo gloria

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Cinderella. So, watched this in theaters, was completely won over with the production value and shininess and adorable characters. So, thus, a one-shot. :)

"I cannot tell if this is one of my better ideas or one of my sillier ones," Kit said in a joking voice. He looked warmly at his wife's sweet face at his side. They stood off to the side of a long, side-sweeping canvas that stretched out several tan feet, covering most of the wall and offering a fine background.

The royal painter, Master Phineus, was busy mixing away an elixir collection of paints on a painter's palette. Last night, Kit and Cinderella had had a very serious (nose-nuzzling, giggly) talk about their new positions as king and queen of their beloved, prospering kingdom. Kit had brought to light that Cinderella had never posed for a portrait of her fine beauty, a tragedy he meant to have fixed into right. Cinderella had proposed that he join her for such a portrait ("That's so unnecessary; my ugly face has disgraced too many canvases as it is," Kit'd joked) and mischievously challenged him to join her in it, or else she refused to have one at all.

After a long day of addressing issues over crops, land-ownership, and hearing the complaints of the peasants (a task wearying and burdensome, but wholly welcomed by the new king, who desperately wanted to help his people and simultaneously prove to them that he was just as good a ruler as his late father), the two monarchs joined up at the luxurious dinner table for two, dining upon fresh fish caught at their kingdom's bay and fresh fruits imported from Ella's childhood estate. What a contrast to the meals of picking at table scraps upon a splintered wood surface with her cheerful little friends, to eating off china and sipping from gold goblets with the king! But nothing was quite so changed; Cinderella's little mice friends had their own private table next to the wine pitcher. She kept up a brilliant conversation with Kit, keeping him laughing and gazing at her with those captivated blue eyes, and also gently reprimanded Gus to 'share with the others; being greedy hurts one's stomach'. And then her husband hurried to her side to aid her in getting up from her chair, for as of late, Cinderella's ability to rise from chairs and lower surfaces was shaky, as the baby growing in her belly removed her center of gravity and stuck it somewhere she wasn't used to it being. Clasping Kit's arm, Cinderella walked with a supernatural glow about her to the grand portrait room, where the painting was to happen. The walls were covered in hours' of rendered paintings of several distinguished monarchs, ancestors and in-laws. Kit stood proudly next to his father, and then to the right was a blank space on the wall, cleared away to open a spot for the newest addition to the royal collection.

Master Phineus looked at the new family with squinted eyes; his dark curls sprung from beneath his ridiculous hat, and he stirred his blues and greens with a slight quirk to his mouth, as if he was deciphering the puzzle before him.

Cinderella, feeling self-conscious of the way he was scrutinizing her, whispered to Kit, "It was one of my ideas, and I believe one I am not quite certain of right now."

"It's a noble idea, darling," Kit said reassuringly. "The kingdom would like to see a royal family portrait rendered, and I'll look forward to remembering this portrait of you for years and years to come." He whispered close to her ear in a loving, conspiratorial tone, "You look beautiful, Ella."

"Thank you, Kit," Cinderella said, smiling broadly. She betook herself to straightening his clothes upon his person and he watched her with never-flickering eyes. She took a step back and beamed. "Yes. You're just right, Your Highness."

"Then shall we begin, my darling?" Kit extended a gloved hand and bowed, and smiled as she took his hand and allowed him to escort her to a beautiful cushioned chair with cranberry mahogany wood. He sat her gently down and then turning to Master Phineus, said, "Are you ready, Phineus?"

"As ready as I suppose I will ever be," Master Phineus said tonelessly. His scrambling to please had disappeared since Kit's father had passed on. He had also grown bored of painting the same prince over and over, though the addition of a radiant pregnant queen intrigued him.

"Good, good," Kit said. He rounded the chair and stood straight, his elegantly gloved hand atop the back of it. He looked down at Cinderella and said, "While your smile would shine brighter than the sun, it tires one out tremendously to keep it up for hours on end, so I suggest, darling, to pick a non-smiling face and stick with it. It'll be yours for hours and hours."

"You sound quite experienced," Cinderella said, amused.

Kit sighed dramatically. "Unfortunately, I am."

"Pose! Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Master Phineus eyed the posed picture of matrimonial bliss and began to scratch out outlines and delight in applying tiny details to his canvas.

Mid-way the Captain of the Guard knocked at the door and Kit, through gritted teeth and unparted lips, said, "Come in." The Captain entered and bowed at the middle, saying, "Good evening, Your Highness, milady." He especially smiled at Cinderella.

Cinderella smiled her kind smile and bowed her chin slightly, making Master Phineus say, "Hold still, milady!"

The Captain exchanged a mirthful look with the queen, giving her sympathetic eyes. He said, "How's the portrait coming along?" before standing next to the portrait taking form and contrasting it with the real life king and queen.

"Is he doing Cinderella justice, Captain?" Kit whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Master Phineus gave him a warning eyebrow.

"Oh yes, Master Kit," the Captain said joyfully. He smiled and said, "Her beauty is being captured quite well. You look wonderful, milady."

Cinderella took the compliment graciously and said, "And Kit?"

"He's become habit to paint," Master Phineus said. "Not hard or challenging or interesting at all."

"I shall pretend to not have heard that," Kit said. "Though I quite agree with him."

"Oh, Kit!" Cinderella said, half-scandalized; she somehow turned ninety degrees to look at her husband out of the corner of her eye to scold him in the only way she knew: with a gentle, loving look.

"Your Highness, turn back around!" Master Phineus commanded.

"You're very challenging and interesting, Kit," Cinderella whispered hastily before turning around and facing the artist, who sighed dramatically and muttered to himself as he painted.

"You both look great in this portrait; a finer couple was never seen in this kingdom, except perhaps your father and mother, Master Kit," the Captain complimented.

"They were a handsome couple," Kit said sentimentally.

Cinderella grasped his hand, and their joined hands ended up making an appearance in the final result. Master Phineus worked efficiently; none-too-soon did he announce to the tired pregnant queen and weak-kneed king that the general outline was finished, and he would flesh it out in the next week. He presented it with no small amount of pride to Cinderella, whose husband looked over her shoulder.

"You're gorgeous, my love," he said.

"You look so handsome, my Kit," she said affectionately.

Nauseated, Master Phineus took back the portrait and said, "Your Highnesses are now allowed to leave."

Leaning both on Kit's and the Captain's arms, Cinderella left the room, excitement and praise for the portrait on her lips.

And when that portrait was finished, it gained the monarchy the oohs and the aws of the kingdom. The subjects felt national pride at having such a handsome couple as the leaders of the country; the portrait also sparked whispers to ears and market gossip and speculations about the new royal baby.

The portrait was hung with pride and love next to the stately ex-prince. And it was the apple of Kit's eye, and Cinderella was pleased to have her first portrait featuring herself with her dear love and her baby, her own little dream.

Thanks for reading!